Sleek and modern and beautiful, it stood alone against a wall in the station of the Narita Express to Tokyo.

Each product, perfectly lit and spaced, was lined up in a heroic stance that made me want to buy something—anything—just to see how this machine would dispense the product. Artfully, I am certain.

Vending Machine, Narita

Made in Japan

This was just the beginning. What followed in the years of my travels making thousands of photographs was lovely amazement at every turn.

Matcha, Tokyo

Made in Japan

In the Gion/1

Made in Japan

I’ve always found beautiful order within the inevitable chaos, and a thread of an aesthetic that, for me, links an ages-old, painstakingly fashioned bow tie joint to the crisply pressed uniform of a Shinkansen conductor.

The Crisply Pressed Uniform Of A Shinkansen Conductor

Made in Japan

A Shokunin’s Work

Made in Japan

In the present and future breathes the spirit of the past. You can find it in the Ippodo Tea Room in Kyoto, where young women in their summer yukota share secrets over tea, their mobile phones at the ready nearby.

Text Message

Made in Japan

Polished Black Shoes

Made in Japan

I remember how my Japanese friends must have thought me curiously sentimental as I confessed that tears welled up the first time I saw a train conductor bow as he entered the car.

O, just another day in Japan,’ one of them observed.

A Job Well Done

Made in Japan

For me, it was yet another sign of that ancient, albeit slender aesthetic thread, still very much woven into a culture that has changed in a myriad of ways, but in a very significant way, hasn’t changed at all.

Nor-en

Made in Japan

Traditional Wedding On Miyajima

Made in Japan

Pattern on Kyoto Gate

Made in Japan

Crossing Gate Signal

Made in Japan

Sake Bar

Made in Japan

Detail, Himeji Castle

Made in Japan

Bus Driver, Kyoto

Made in Japan

A Potter's Studio

Made in Japan

Pattern On Shoji

Made in Japan

Monk, Daitoku-ji

Made in Japan

Tempura Chef

Made in Japan

The History of Solitude (var: Yellow Apron)

Made in Japan

At Shisen-do, Autumn

Made in Japan

In A Magazine Shop, Tokyo

Made in Japan

Dreams of Garden Shapes

Made in Japan

The first photograph I made in Japan was of a vending machine.

Sleek and modern and beautiful, it stood alone against a wall in the station of the Narita Express to Tokyo.

Each product, perfectly lit and spaced, was lined up in a heroic stance that made me want to buy something—anything—just to see how this machine would dispense the product. Artfully, I am certain.

Vending Machine, Narita

Made in Japan

This was just the beginning. What followed in the years of my travels making thousands of photographs was lovely amazement at every turn.

Matcha, Tokyo

Made in Japan

In the Gion/1

Made in Japan

I’ve always found beautiful order within the inevitable chaos, and a thread of an aesthetic that, for me, links an ages-old, painstakingly fashioned bow tie joint to the crisply pressed uniform of a Shinkansen conductor.

The Crisply Pressed Uniform Of A Shinkansen Conductor

Made in Japan

A Shokunin’s Work

Made in Japan

In the present and future breathes the spirit of the past. You can find it in the Ippodo Tea Room in Kyoto, where young women in their summer yukota share secrets over tea, their mobile phones at the ready nearby.

Text Message

Made in Japan

Polished Black Shoes

Made in Japan

I remember how my Japanese friends must have thought me curiously sentimental as I confessed that tears welled up the first time I saw a train conductor bow as he entered the car.

O, just another day in Japan,’ one of them observed.

A Job Well Done

Made in Japan

For me, it was yet another sign of that ancient, albeit slender aesthetic thread, still very much woven into a culture that has changed in a myriad of ways, but in a very significant way, hasn’t changed at all.